Mineral Resources faces formal investigation from ASIC
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The news: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has confirmed its initial inquiries into Mineral Resources following reporting by The Australian Financial Review that revealed managing director and founder Chris Ellison admitted to involvement in an alleged tax evasion scheme has developed into a formal investigation.
The context: Mineral Resources announced earlier this week that Ellison will face financial penalties and will step down as managing director as part of an orderly transition effected within the next 12 to 18 months, following its investigation into tax evasion allegations.
The company had last week announced an investigation by law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, and on Monday said the board had identified a range of issues and shortcomings. The conclusions included Ellison’s interest in offshore companies, non-disclosure of his private tax settlement to the company until November 2023, providing financial benefits to related parties and using company resources for personal benefit.
What they said: Responding to Barbara Pocock’s questions, deputy chair Sarah Court said the information came to them through the media reporting and they’ve had some engagement with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the “investigation will follow the normal course”.
“I can confirm we’ve now commenced a formal investigation into these issues," Court said. “It’s at a very early stage.”
When asked how she’d characterise the cooperation of MinRes, she said she could not provide that description yet as it was too early but would provide information at a future hearing.
Court said she was “not aware” of any earlier engagements or matters related to MinRes, but took it on notice. She also refused to provide details of what consequences there might be for breaches or misconduct discovered.
“The matter is sitting with one of our investigation teams. They'll assess the information that we've got available. That will, of course, liaise with the ATO. We will then consider the exercise of compulsory powers," Court said.
"We will look at the information that we obtain, and then we will make an assessment as to whether or not we think there's been any contraventions of the laws that ASIC administers.
"So unfortunately, those things do tend to take some time. So as I say, we are at a very early stage. Until we finalise an investigation and reach that conclusion, that’s hard to speculate as to what the outcome might be."
The source: Senate Estimate hearing
